KFC’s 99 Gigs campaign launched in March this year, and the brand
brought on board Callux and Charlotte de Carle, a YouTuber and an
Instagrammer, to co-create a youth focused YouTube series called
‘KFC Presents: Around the world in 99 Gigs’.

Each episode of the series was posted on YouTube every other
week, and the hosts were sent in search of cool and quirky
undiscovered musicians from around the world to engage the
hard-to-reach youth audience.

The 12-part series reached 6.2 million views in total, and KFC is
now planning the launch of a second series. Speaking to The Drum
Meghan Farren chief marketing officer at KFC UK & Ireland at
Yum! Brands, explained how having a clear role for the channel in
the overcrowded content space, helped the brand achieve success.

“We were very clear on the role of what that channel was trying
to do and very clear in its scope and who we were trying to
produce content for,” she said. “Being super clear on how you
want to use it [YouTube] is important. Also, we were very strict
on the brief to the hosts, so they were clear on the job that
they were doing and we worked very closely in partnership with
them. I don’t know what McDonalds did and how they worked with
their influencers but for us it’s been highly successful in
engaging a youth audience.”

One ingredient in KFC’s recipe for success that sets it apart
from McDonald’s axed ‘Channel Us’ attempt, is how the brand
tapped into the trend of instant gratification as well as
experiences. As part of the campaign, KFC fans could become a
‘99p VIP’ by claiming an offer on chicken via its loyalty
programme Colonel’s Club. This gave consumers the chance to win
gig tickets, following any purchase from its snacking menu as
well as contest for the chance to join hosts Callux and Charlotte
around the world.

Elsewhere, KFC is readying its latest BBH-created campaign set to
launch on 28 November, which is the first push for the restaurant
since introducing a new tone of voice and visual identity to
better compete against the increased marketing budgets from the
likes of Deliveroo and UberEats. While specific details of
the new campaign are yet to be revealed, KFC will be focusing on
how it can reflect British culture, given that the brand is
deeply tied to the American deep south, yet still maintain its
heritage.

“We hope the new campaign will help us tell our brand story,”
continued Farren. “We have a true story in the Colonel and brands
would kill to have the actual real heritage that we have so you
will see us tap in to that a little more but also in a fresh and
contemporary way.

"[It is about] making sure the brand is relevant in our consumers
lives today and that it is in British culture, which is something
that we are focusing on and investing in now…You will see as our
marketing rolls out that rather than just talking about our food
we will try to connect with our consumers in an emotional way in
a way that is relevant to what is going on in UK culture today."

Convenience is another key area for KFC, specifically how the
meaning of it among consumers is changing rapidly since the
introduction of fast food restaurants half a century ago. While
the drive-through was once the height of service for consumers,
advancements in technology have led them to demand more from
brands, particularly in the food industry.

That’s why KFC has been trialing a delivery service and launched
an app to test different ways of ordering in its restaurants.
While it’s still early days for the brand in the highly
competitive delivery space, Farren said trials are going
“extremely well” and are “driving incremental sales growth” in
both areas.

“What we are trying to do is launch it at pace but in a way that
is operationally sustainable. It’s about making sure the partners
we use to toll out with are viable and will deliver a great
experience to the customer. We can only go at the pace at which
we can get the right partners signed up.”